How the Lemonade Diet Works

The Lemonade Diet is a weight-loss fast in which you only drink a special lemonade drink for about 10 days and also flush the body with a salt water mixture. Some people also take herbal laxative teas during the Lemonade Diet as well. As simple as the Lemonade Diet is, there are still some steps you will need to follow to make sure you are fasting safely. Here are the three phases of the Lemonade Diet.

Pre-Fasting Phase

Before you start the Lemonade Diet, you should prepare your body for the fast. Many people choose to skip this phase but it will be easier on your body if you do some simple preparation first. In particular, you won’t feel as hungry during the actual Lemonade Diet fasting phase.

The pre-fasting phase should last at least 2 days but can be stretched out to longer periods of time. During the first day/s of the pre-fast phase, you should eat only uncooked, vegan (no animal products) foods. Try to have some fun with the diet by eating delicious fruits like mangos and vegetables with interesting textures, like tomatoes. However, make sure that you are getting more vegetables than fruits because fruits have high levels of sugar.

During the second day/s of the pre-fasting phase of the Lemonade Diet, you should consume only liquid foods. While this may seem limiting at first, there are a lot of great liquid foods you can make, like smoothies, fresh juices, soups and broth. Some people add a third step to the pre-fasting phase of the lemonade diet during which they only consume orange juice with a bit of maple syrup.

The Lemonade Diet Phase

During the Lemonade Diet phase, you will only consume a lemonade drink, an herbal laxative and (optional) a salt water flush.

You can start the Lemonade Diet with the salt water flush (SWF). The salt water flush should be one liter of pure warm water (distilled water is best) combined with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. The salt should be organic sea salt without iodine added to it. The purpose of the SWF is to cleanse out your bowels and detoxify yourself. Your body cannot absorb the salt water so it will almost immediately be expelled through your bowels. When it is expelled, it will take with it any buildup in your bowels. A word of caution: you should have a bathroom nearby when you do the SWF! The SWF should always be done on an empty stomach right when you wake up. You can drink it all at once or take your time, just don’t drink the lemonade until you have finished the flush and had a bowel movement.

After the SWF, you can start drinking the lemonade mixture. It should consist of 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of organic maple syrup grade B, 1/10teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 10 ounces of pure (filtered or distilled) water. Freshness is key to the Lemonade Diet! Don’t make too much of the lemonade drink ahead of time because the active enzymes in the concoction will die if it sits around. You should drink a minimum of 6 servings of the lemonade drink. However, you can drink much more. The more you consume, the easier it will be to combat hunger. You can also drink pure water throughout the day.

While the salt water flush is not required as part of the Lemonade Diet, using a nightly laxative is a must. All of the detoxification and weight loss with the Lemonade Diet occurs through bowel movements so you can expect to visit the bathroom frequently. At night, just take an herbal laxative. It can be a tea or pills depending on your preference. Some people have the bowel movement at night whereas others have it in the morning when they wake up.

Post-Fasting Phase

After 4-12 days of the Lemonade Diet, you will be ready to ease out of the fast. You cannot just start eating normally though or your body will go into shock. Instead, you need to ease yourself back into solid foods. The post-fasting phase is basically the reverse of the pre-fasting phase. On the first day, you will want to drink orange juice with some maple syrup. By the second day, you can start consuming some liquid foods like juices, smoothies, and soups. On the third day, you can eat live foods like vegetables and fruits.